Home Minister Amit Shah to introduce Citizenship Amendment Bill on Monday

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New Delhi: The highly-debated Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB)  will be introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha on Monday, (December 9).

This comes after the Union Cabinet on Wednesday (December 4) gave its nod to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Prior to the introduction of the bill, several meetings were conducted by the Home Minister Amit Shah with the politicians and activists including the chief minister of Mizoram Zoramthanga and Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

The bill was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament on January 7, 2019, but lapsed with the term of the previous Lok Sabha.

The key issue related to the bill is that it makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship on the basis of religion which may violate Article 14 of the Constitution. The Bill allows cancellation of OCI registration for violation of any law.  

The bill, which amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants in select categories eligible for citizenship, has been attacked by the Opposition, minority outfits and others on the ground that it is at odds with the Constitution, which does not differentiate between citizens.

A day before the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is to be introduced in the Lok Sabha Congress party conducted a meeting led by interim president Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath on Sunday (December 8).

However, the bill has been strongly opposed by parties like Shiv Sena, Congress, Trinamool, DMK, Samajwadi Party, RJD and the Left and regional parties like BJD.